The oldest wheeled transport in the south of Central Asia (new materials from Altyn-depe)*

At Altyn-depa (South-Eastern Turkmenistan), one of the largest ancient agricultural settlements of the Eneolithic and Bronze Age of Central Asia, cart models of the late IV - early III millennium BC were found. This is the oldest evidence that allows us to judge the type and design of vehicles used by the early farmers of the Middle East. Models transmit single-axle two-wheeled carts with a single upward-rising drawbar, which was probably attached to a yoke. Judging by the images of the harness, only bulls (oxen?) were used as harness animals in Southern Turkmenistan in the IV - first half of the III millennium BC.

In the second half of the third millennium BC, four-wheeled two-axle wagons appeared on Altyn-depa. The most widely distributed carts were those with high sides and two shafts, in which one animal was harnessed - a camel and less often an ox. In the conditions of increasing aridization of the climate, the camel has become the main transport animal of Central Asia. The appearance of two main types of carts (single-axle and two-axle) on Altyn-depa generally corresponds to two periods of the most active interaction of the population of Southern Turkmenistan with the inhabitants of neighboring regions.

Keywords: Eneolithic era, Bronze Age, ancient wheeled transport, Central Asia, Altyn-depe, paired bull team, camel team, wheel models, single-axle and two-axle carts.

Introduction

The study of Neolithic - Paleometallic monuments in the south of Central Asia has shown that the territory of Southern Turkmenistan and, probably, the entire Northern Khorasan was home to one of the centers of ancient agricultural cultures, the historical development of which led to the appearance of the oldest early urban civilization of Central Asia on Altyn-depa in the last third of the III millennium BC (Masson, 1981, p. 96-108] and the flourishing of the proto-state formation of the Ancient Eastern type in Margiana with its capital on Gonur-depa (Sarianidi, 2005) in the late III-early II millennium BC.

The formation of the cultural basis and the formation of the technical and technological base for the production of early urban centers in Southern Turkmenistan took place at the end of the IV-III millennium BC. Active interaction with both neighboring regions and more remote, culturally and historically advanced regions of the Ancient East played an important role in these processes [Kircho, 2008; Mason, 1981, pp. 109-118]. In the analysis of cultural interactions, one of the most important is the question of transport, since systematic regular contacts and especially trade are impossible without appropriate means of transport.

For the first time, the main stages of the development of wheeled transport of the Eneolithic and Bronze Age of Central Asia were identified by E. E. Kuzmina based on research materials of the 1950s - 1970s [1980], and many of the provisions of this work (with amendments to the current general aging of the chronology) retain their significance. At the same time

* The work was carried out within the framework of the project " Production technologies of the ancient agricultural population of the South of Eurasia V-III millennium BC and its adaptation to changes in the natural environment. Integrated approach" of the program of fundamental research of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences "Adaptation of peoples and cultures to changes in the natural environment, social and technological transformations".

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Figure 1. Wheel-shaped objects (ceramics). Southern Turkmenistan (second half of the IV millennium BC). 1-4, 8-Kara-depe, horizons 1A, 1B and 3 (according to: [1, 1960, Table XIX, 6]); 5-Chong-depe (according to: [Sarianidi, 1965, Table XXV 35]); 6-Altyn-depe, excavation 5, horizon 12; 7-Ak-depe, horizon 13; 9 - 12-Ilgynly-depe, horizons II and III; 13-15-Geoxyur-9 (according to [Khlopin, 1969, Table XXVI, 48 - 50]); 16, 77-Geoxur-1, horizon 5 (according to [Sarianidi, 1960, Table VII, 16, 17]); 18-Northern Anau Hill (according to [Kurbansakhatov, 1987, Fig. 44, 17]); 19-21-Akcha-depe (according to: [Khlopin, 1969, Table VII, 45 - 47]); 22, 23 - Aina-depe (according to: [Ibid., Tables XXIII, 8-9]).

as a result of the archaeological excavations of Altyn-depe in the 1980s-early 2000s and the study of unpublished materials of the monument, new data were obtained on the types of carts and variants of animal harnessing at the end of the IV-III millennium BC in the south of Central Asia.

The oldest wheel models

The first evidence of the appearance of wheeled transport in Southern Turkmenistan dates back to the mid-second half of the fourth millennium BC. In the cultural layers of early agricultural settlements of the Middle-Early Late Eneolithic (Namazg II-Early Namazg III, ca. 3650-3100/3000 BC)* ceramic objects have been found that are interpreted by some researchers as wheel models (Figure 1). Like the Middle Eneolithic ceramics, they are made of clay dough with crushed vegetable (occasionally mineral) admixture and covered with light (greenish, pink or cream) angob. These are rounded objects with a diameter of 7-10 cm with a large hole (the ratio of the product and hole diameters is about 1: 5 - 1: 3) in the center and a protrusion, presumably transmitting a one-sided wheel hub [Kuzmina and Lyapin, 1980, p. 39]. However, they are made rather roughly and are generally asymmetrical. Protrusions, including two-sided ones (Fig. 1,13 , 15, 22, 23), apparently, they were formed as a result of smoothing out excess clay when making a hole. Probably, the wheel-shaped products of the time of Namazg II belong to models of wheeled transport of the oldest type - carts with disc-shaped wheels tightly mounted on the axis and rotating with it (Kozhin, 1986, p. 186). Then the protrusions may convey the rigid attachment of the wheel to the axle. These earliest assumed wheel models in Southern Turkmenistan are quite different from the Late Neolithic ones (Namazga III, ca. 3 200/3 100 - 2 800/2 700 2, 24, 27-29) and Altyn depe (figs. 2, 1 - 8, 10 - 15, 19, 22, 23). Differences in both design and size. Models of wheels of the late IV - first quarter of the III millennium BC have a double-sided bushing in the center, their diameters usually do not exceed 4-7 cm, and the ratio of wheel diameters to holes is approx. 1: 8 - 1: 10, which probably reflects the proportions of real wheels. Judging by the size of these items and their central openings, the Namazga II period cart models were most likely quite large and probably made of wood**.

* The archaeological periodization of the Paleometallic monuments of southern Central Asia is based on the stratigraphy of the reference multi-layered settlements-the Northern and Southern Hills of Anau and Namazga-depe, where successive stages (periods) of the development of cultural complexes are distinguished: Anau IA - the beginning of the Early Eneolithic; Namazga I, Anau IB - the Early Eneolithic; Namazga II, Anau II-the Early Eneolithic. Middle Eneolithic; Namazga III - Late Eneolithic; Anau III-Bronze Age, based on Namazga-depe materials divided into three periods: Namazga IV-early, Namazga V-Middle and Namazga VI-late. Namazga complexes I - III correspond to three stages of development of the Eneolithic Anau culture, while Namazga complexes IV-VI correspond to the stages of formation, flourishing, and disintegration of Bronze Age civilizations [1, 2006, pp. 42-85].

** The fact that the Eneolithic and Bronze Age cart models of Southern Turkmenistan were probably mostly made of wood can be seen in numerous settlements

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Fig. 2. Models of carts, wheels and figures of sled animals. Southern Turkmenistan (end of IV-first quarter of III thous. BC).

1-23-Altyn-depe, excavation 5: 1-8-horizon 9, 9-15-horizon 10, 16-20-horizon 11, 21, 22-horizon 12, 23-horizon 13; 24-29-Kara-depe, horizon 1A (by: [Mass, 1960, Tables X, 4, 13; XIII, 15-17]). 2, 5, 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 22, 29 - clay, the rest is terracotta.

In the early agricultural settlements of Iran, the oldest model of a wheel with a double-sided sleeve was found at the Sialk Tepe (Sialk II, 2 complex) of the beginning of the IV millennium BC (Ghirshman, 1938, pl. LII, 9).

Models of single-axle carts

In addition to wheel models, clay and terracotta cart models were also found for the first time in the Altyn-depa complexes of the Namazga III time (Fig. 2, 9, 10, 17, 18, 21; 3; 4). They are small (or even miniature) oval or sub-rectangular objects with a weighted lower part, low sides, one transverse hole for the axis and a deep longitudinal, slightly inclined channel for inserting the drawbar. That is, these are models of single-axle two-wheeled carts with one pole rising up. The latter was probably yoked together. Thus, the team of animals in a cart did not differ from the pair plow, presented, for example, on the famous pommel from Tepe Hissar [Schmidt E. F., 1937,

3. Terracotta model of a cart (partial reconstruction). Altyn-depe, excavation 5, horizon 11 (beginning of the third millennium BC). BC).

4. Clay model of a cart (partial reconstruction). Altyn-depe, excavation 5, horizon 10 (ca. 2900-2800 BC).

terracotta and clay models of wheels and single ones of the carts themselves. A rectangular body and axles are much easier to make from wood, and round wheels can be molded from clay.

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Figure 5. Images of sled animals and fragments of cart models. Altyn-depe (c. 2400-2000 BC). 1-14-images of camels; 15-18 - images of bulls; 19, 22, 23, 26, 27- models of two-axle carts; 20, 21, 24, 25-models of single-axle carts. 11, 16, 17, 20, 21 - clay, the rest is terracotta. 1 - 3, 5, 12, 15, 18, 25 - 27 - excavation 9, horizons 1 and 2 (27-according to: [1, 1981, Table XXX, 7]); 4, 14 - excavation 10, horizon 2 (according to: [Masimov, 1976, Fig. 16,11, 13]); 6, 7,13, 23 - collections from the settlement surface; 8, 22-excavation 7, horizon 3 (according to: [1, 1981, Tables XXX, 2, 5]); 9, 10, 19-excavation 5, horizons 4, 9 (?) and 3; 11, 24-excavation 8 (planigraphic), horizon 1; 16, 17, 20, 21 - excavation 1, horizon 3.

pl. XLVIII, H 4885]. Some of the wagons may have been covered. One model has vertical channels at the edges of the sides (see Figs. 2, 9). Twigs inserted in such channels could serve as a support for the roof or the basis of high, probably wicker, body sides (see Fig. 4). A miniature model of a single-axle cart of a similar design (Figs. 5, 21) with a flat oval the bodywork and numerous vertical channels for roof supports (?) are represented on Altyn-depa in a complex of clay objects from the beginning of the Middle Period of the Bronze Age (early Namazga V, ca. 2300 BC)*.

Outside of Southern Turkmenistan, models of single-axle chariots with a single drawbar for paired harnessing are widely distributed in the settlements of the ancient Indian civilization of the second half of the third millennium BC - in Chankhu-Daro and Lothal (Childe, 1951, pl. IX, b, c; Rao, 1985, pi. CCXXI, B).

New designs of cart models appeared at the late stage of the Early Bronze Age (later Namazga IV, ca. 2400 BC), when Altyn-depe turned into a large early city center with a developed communication network and a monumentally designed main entrance [Massey, 1981, p. 33, fig. 11]**. A clay model of a single-axle cart with a rectangular, open back dates back to this time.-

* In 1966, more than 100 clay products (and their fragments) were found at excavation site 1 Altyn-depe near the Gorizont 3 pottery kiln, possibly prepared for firing. "About 50 of them depicted animals (bull, ram, dog). In addition, there were 18 anthropomorphic figures, 10 wheels with a hub for cart models, and a number of objects that were unclear in their purpose " (Shchetenko, 1968a, p. 43). Part of the zoomorphic figurines and 16 anthropomorphic figurines from this complex were published by V. M. Masson [1981, Tables XII, 1-4, b, 11,13; XIII, 1-3, 6-9; Massa, Sari-anidi, 1973, pp. 168-170, N 152-167 of the Catalog, tab. XX, 11, 12; XXI, 1 - 6, 8, 10 - 13; XXII, 5-7]. The oval body of a single-axle wagon model (figs. 5, 21) and the wreckage of at least two more sub-rectangular bodies (Figs. 5, 20) were identified among the items that were not clearly identified for their intended purpose.

** Namazga-depe and Ulug-depe were also major centers of late Namazga IV-Namazga V on the northern Kopetdag foothill plain.

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redi and rear bodywork, broken off side sides and two longitudinal channels in the front, where shafts were probably inserted for harnessing one animal (Fig. 6, 7; 7)*. It was found in a small compartment at the end of the corridor of a three-room house (excavation 5, horizon 4). There were also clay figures of sled bulls, a model of a wheel with a double-sided hub, and several other objects, including damaged anthropomorphic and female figurines (see Fig. 6), stone tools and broken vessels. In the corner of the compartment, a small hearth was found on a square dirt base.

Single-axle wagons harnessed to one animal continued to exist in the Middle Bronze Age (Namazga period V, the last third of the third-beginning of the second millennium BC). A small model of a single-axle wagon with two channels for shafts (see Figs. 5, 24) and a miniature model of a covered single-axle wagon were found on Altyn-depa. 5, 25) with traces of attachment of the figurine (its head) of the animal. Models of two-wheeled carts with an open front body and high sides are also known in Namazga Depa (Kuftin, 1956, fig. 27).

Models of two-axle carts

Models of two-axle four-wheeled carts appeared in Southern Turkmenistan also at the end of the Early Bronze Age period and are widely represented in Middle Bronze complexes. Judging by the best preserved examples, the bodies of such wagons had at least four design options.

Option 1. Sub-rectangular, open front body with high side sides. Models of these earliest four-wheeled carts, the sides of which are decorated with painted ornaments, are presented on Altyn-depa (see Figs. 5, 19, 22) [1, 1981, Tables XIX, 7]**. In fact, this is the same version of the body structure as that of the single-axis clay model (see Figure 7). A fragment of the body of another such model of a cart was found at the Bezmeinsky settlement of the late Namazg IV - early Namazg V time (Kuzmina and Lyapin, 1980, Fig.3, 4\ Lyapin, 1975).

Option 2: A sub-rectangular body with a rounded bottom, low front, high side and rear sides, and the rear is lower than the side (Fig. 8)***. Judging by the description, the model of a wagon discovered on Altyn-depa in 1953 by A. F. Ganyalin also had a similar body structure: "... rectangular in shape... Its side walls were broken off; it must be assumed that they were much higher than the front and rear ones.

Fig. 6. Clay products. Altyn-depe. 1,2 - figures of sled bulls; 3 - 5-anthropomorphic figurines; 6 - model of a wheel; 7 - model of a cart; 8-an object of unknown purpose. 1 - excavation 8 (stratigraphic), horizon 5 (ca. 2500 BC); 2 - 8-residential building section, excavation 5, horizon 4 (ca. 2400 BC).

Figure 7. Clay model of a bull cart (partial reconstruction). Altyn-depe, excavation 5, horizon 4 (ca. 2400 BC).

* A fragment of the rear part of a rectangular body (without sides) of a clay model of a cart with vertical channels for supports is also presented in the complex of clay objects from the time of early Namazg V from excavation 1.

**They were used to fill horizons 1 and 3 of the Middle Bronze Age, but the stylistic features of the painted ornaments on the sides show that the models were made at the end of the Early Bronze Age.

*** The wheel models used for the partial reconstruction were found next to the cart model.

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Figure 8. Terracotta model of a camel-drawn cart (partial reconstruction). Altyn-depe, excavation 9, horizon 2 (ca. 2200 BC).

9. Terracotta model of a cart (partial reconstruction). The southern hill of Anau (the last third of the third millennium BC). Scientific Archive of the IIMC RAS, photo Department, no. N III 9579; excavations of the R. Pampelli expedition in 1904.

rear sides, the height of which does not exceed 5.5-6 cm" [1959, p. 34, Table V]*. Both finds originate from horizon 2 of the Middle Namazga V period (ca. 2200 BC). A rectangular, flattened bottom body of a cart model with broken sides is represented in the Anau III complex on the Southern Anau Hill (Fig. 9) [Schmidt N., 1908, p. 172, fig. 419, pl. 47,11].

Option 3. Oval body with high sides on all sides. Such a model of a cart with a sculptural image of a bull's head in the front part was found on the Ulug depa of Namazga V time (Lisitsyna, 1978, Figs. 6, 5).

Option 4. The front half of the body of the cart model is in the form of a flat rectangular platform with three protrusions in the front (see Fig. 5, 27) found on Altyn-depa. A similar rectangular body with three protrusions at the bottom (at the corners and in the middle of the front side), low front and side sides (the rear part is not preserved) was found at the Bezmeinsky settlement (Kuzmina and Lyapin, 1980, Fig. 3, 3).

Models of variants 1-3 with channels for shafts, traces of attachment of one animal figurine or preserved in the front part of its head, apparently depict carts in which one animal was harnessed. Variant 4 models with traces of attachment of two figures and (or) protrusions (for fixing the drawbar?) they seem to be passing heavy-duty wagons designed for paired teams.

Sled animals

In Southern Turkmenistan, only bulls (oxen?) were probably used as sled animals in the IV - first centuries of the III millennium BC. In any case, only the late Eneolithic bull figurines on Kara-depa have transverse holes in the withers for attaching the harness or stripes of paint on the muzzle and back, presumably transmitting the harness (see Figs. 2, 25, 26). Such sculptural images dating back to the second half of the third millennium BC (later Namazga IV-Namazga V), found at Ulug-depe (Lisitsyna, 1978, Fig. 6, 1) and Altyn-depe (see Fig. 5, 15 - 1 7; 6, 1, 2). Some bull figures have a well-defined hump (see Figure 6.1) and may represent the appearance of zebu-like cattle. However, bone remains of humpback zebu bulls have not been found in the Eneolithic and Bronze Age monuments of Southern Turkmenistan (Kasparov, 2006, p. 57). At the same time, one figure (Namazga time V) with a hole in the upper part of the hump represents a camel (see Fig. 5, 11).

Individual bones of two-humped camels found on the Northern Hill of Anau, Chong-depe, and monuments of the Celteminar cultural community [Ibid., pp. 62, 63; Kuzmina, 1980, Table II] indicate that the Bactrian camel lived in the Central Asian region in the V-IV millennium BC. In the third millennium BC, these animals were already used as draft power. The earliest reliably documented terracotta head of a sled camel was found at Altyn-depa in Horizon 4 (ca. 2400 BC; see Figures 5, 9)**. The painted sculptural image of a camel's head from Taichanak depe also dates back to the same time (Shchetenko, 19686, Fig. 11,2). Terracotta and clay heads of camels and, more rarely, oxen with

* Unfortunately, the published photo of the model is of very poor quality and, like the drawing made on it [Kuzmina, 1980, Fig. 2, 13], does not convey the body structure. Another image, probably of the same model after reconstruction (since no other almost complete models of four-wheeled carts were found on Altyn-depa) is given by G. N. Lisitsyn [1978, Fig. 6, 4].

** Another such head, found in the upper layer of the courtyard fill in horizon 9 at the end of the Late Eneolithic (see Figs. 5, 10), could have entered this layer as a result of destruction (scree) of later cultural strata.

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special pins for inserting into cart models and a hole in the front of the muzzle for threading the harness are widely represented in the complexes of the Namazga V Altyn-depe period (see Fig. 5, 1 - 10, 18) [Mass., 1981, Tables XIII, 10-12; XXX, 2-4] and other studies settlements of Southern Turkmenistan [Kuzmina, 1980, tab. II; Kuzmina and Lyapin, 1980, fig. 1,4,5; Lisitsyna, 1978, Fig. 6, 2]. Figures of two-humped camels were also found on the Altyn-depa in layers of the end of the third millennium BC (see Figs. 5,12-14). In recent years, vivid evidence of the importance of the camel in the culture of Southern Turkmenistan at the end of the third and beginning of the second millennium BC has been obtained in Gonur Depa (Dubova, 2004, p. 267, Fig. 22; Sarianidi, 2005, pp. 193, 210, fig. 56, 95, 96].

Details of cart models and other wheeled items

On Late Neolithic models of wagons (as well as on most Early and Middle Bronze ones), the axles were threaded through a through hole in the bottom of the body. In the late Namazga IV period, terracotta models of wagons appeared with separately sculpted oval or sub-rectangular "loops" (see Figs. 5, 23), attached to the lower part of the body with special pins-protrusions (Figs. 10, 2, 8). The axles on which the wheels rotated were already threaded through these "loops". This is the system of fixing the axle of a two-wheeled cart model with Namazga-depe (Kuftin, 1956, Fig. 27). According to E. E. Kuzmina, the two methods of fixing axles "do not repeat the design features of real crews, but imitate two methods of fixing axles on metal models" from Western Asia [Kuzmina and Lyapin, 1980, p.40, 41]. However, the latter date back to the end of the III-beginning of the II millennium BC. e. It is possible that the "hinges" on the cart models imitate the fastening of the connection between the body frame and the fixed axles of the carts.

With the help of separately fashioned "loops", the axles were attached not only to cart models, but also to animal figures, zoomorphic vessels. The earliest such figurine on wheels and a fragment of a vessel with a zoomorphic handle belong to the middle of the third millennium BC (Figs. 10, 1, 6). The most widely used vessels in the form of animals on wheels, as well as with zoomorphic plums, are presented in the materials of Altyn-depe.

10. Terracotta objects. Altyn-depe (c. 2500-2000 BC). 1 - figure of a bull on wheels; 3-5, 7-zoomorphic vessels on wheels; 2, 8- "hinges" for axles; 6-handle of a vessel in the form of a ram's head (?); 9-11-plums in the form of bull heads; 12-18-wheel models. 1, 6-excavation 5, horizon 5; 2 - 4, 8, 11 - 16, 18 - excavation 9, horizons 1, 2; 5, 7-excavation 7, horizon 3; 9, 10, 17 - from the surface of the settlement.

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In the third third millennium BC, it is characteristic that most of these items convey images of camels [1, 1981, Table XX, 3] or bulls (Fig. 10, 1, 9 - 11).

Some Late Eneolithic and Early Bronze wheel models have circles drawn or drawn on the side planes (see Fig. 2, 12, 29; 10, 16) [Kuftin, 1956, fig. 27], possibly transmitting leather or metal upholstery of the rim. In the Altyn-depe complex of the Middle Bronze Age, models of wheels with relief details on planes are presented, apparently reflecting the appearance of lightweight wooden wheels with slits or composite ones with metal tires (see Fig. 10, 12, 14, 17, 18). The latter are widely known from the Ur, Kish, and Susa materials of early dynastic times (Childe, 1951, pp. 179-183, pl. VII, fig. 3; Littauer, Crouwel, 1979, p. 15 - 36, fig. 3, 5, 7]. On Gonur Depa, four-wheeled carts with wooden composite wheels and bronze tires, very similar to those of Susa, are represented in the "royal" tombs of the end of the third and first centuries of the second millennium BC (Dubova, 2004, pp. 276-279, Fig. 35 - 37, 40 - 42).

Assignment of cart models and quantitative distribution of finds

The functional purpose of cart models and zoomorphic objects on wheels remains controversial.

The remains of a model of a two-wheeled cart in the burial of a 9-10 - year-old child in Altyn-depa (Fig. 11) may indicate its use as a toy. In addition, scuff marks on the wheel bushings (see Figures 10, 13) and in places where they come into contact with the body of cart models or zoomorphic vessels (see Figures 5, 27; 10, 7) show that the models were moved (rolled). At the same time, numerous data from different regions of the Ancient World indicate the prestige and iconic significance of carts in burials [Massey, 1976, p.165, 166] and the cult use of models [Kuzmina, 1980, p. 19, 20]. In any case, the morphology of these objects reflects to one degree or another the characteristics of real vehicles.

Analysis of the quantitative distribution of wheel models, carts, and images of sled animals depending on the area studied in different stratigraphic horizons of Altyn-depe shows that the largest share of such finds is found in the Late Eneolithic layers (horizons 10 and 9), in the Early Bronze Age - almost 4 times less, and during the late Namazg IV - Namazga V their number increases again (threefold).

Conclusion

Based on models of carts, wheels and images of sled animals, three stages can be outlined in the history of the appearance and development of the oldest wheeled transport in the south of Central Asia in the Eneolithic - Middle Bronze Age. The first one (the second half of the IV millennium BC) is presumably distinguished by wheel-shaped products, possible remnants of cart models with fixed disk wheels mounted on a rotating axis. The second stage (late IV - first half of the III millennium BC) is characterized by two-wheeled single-axle wagons with a single drawbar and rotating wheels with a double-sided sleeve, drawn by a pair of bulls. In the third (second half of the third millennium BC), two - and four-wheeled carts with high sides or covered ones appeared, in which an ox or, more often, a camel was harnessed with shafts. There were also open carts drawn by a pair of oxen. At the same time, probably, the appearance of a new system of fastening the axles of wagons and composite wheels belongs.

Carts of all types were, apparently, primarily cargo. It is possible that covered single-axle carts were used to transport people, actually corresponding to the medieval Central Asian arba.

The appearance of the main types of cart models (single-axle with a pair team, one-and two-axle, drawn by one animal) on Altyn-depa and

Fig. 11. Remnants of a wooden (?) cart models (terracotta wheels) in the child's burial inventory. Altyn-depe, excavation 9 (ca. 2000 BC).

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the distribution pattern of these finds generally corresponds to the two periods of the most active interaction of the population of Southern Turkmenistan with the inhabitants of neighboring regions in the late IV - first centuries of the III millennium BC and in the second half of the III millennium BC. A relatively small number of remains of cart models at the beginning and middle of the Early Bronze Age (ca. 2750 - 2450 BC).It may reflect the transport crisis of the second quarter of the third millennium BC. At this time, in the increasingly dry climate, the use of ox-drawn carts as a means of transportation for long distances became impossible. Apparently, it was aridization that caused the domestication of the camel, the main transport animal of Central Asia, starting from the second half of the third millennium BC.

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The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 01.02.08.

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